We need socialist change to end climate change
Jack Huggins, Essex Socialist Party
Oil giant BP has announced plans to slash more than £3.9 billion from its ‘green investment plan’ and instead invest £7.9 billion a year more to increase oil and gas production.
In an article published by the Financial Times, it was noted that “…investor pressure is the primary trigger for [this] announcement. BP has been forced to recognise that efforts to cut oil and gas exposure and invest in renewables were chasing away cash flow, disappointing shareholders…. There is, then, a harsh, near-term market logic to the decision.” BP, like all companies under the capitalist system, makes decisions based on what will make a profit. If there is no promise of immediate profit then there will be no investment, no matter the consequences for the environment. This is the reality of the capitalist system.
When challenged, Louise Kingham, BP’s senior vice president for Europe and the UK, scandalously argued that BP’s ambition to become a net-zero company had not changed: “We just have to do this transition more smartly and more efficiently and try to get those returns for our owners because they are helping us to do that. If we don’t generate the returns, we can’t invest and do more.”
The announcement comes just weeks after BP announced 8,000 job cuts as part of ‘cost-saving’ measures, despite making over $40 billion profits since the start of 2022. Clearly the resources are available, but only if profits can be made.
Ms Kingham went on to tacitly admit that capitalism is incapable of the coordinated action needed to prevent climate collapse when she stated: “It’s going to take everybody to move in concert to make this happen. It’s not just the decision of one company and what it chooses to do.” Companies compete with each other on the world stage for markets and profits. To take actions that disadvantage itself, or to allow other companies to swoop in and exploit fossil fuel extraction opportunities, would be a death sentence.
Capitalist climate catastrophe
2024 was the hottest year on record, with average global temperatures reaching 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial times – the limit capitalist politicians set themselves at the 2015 Paris Agreement, “1.5 to stay alive”. Even before this cut, BP’s actions were not enough. For every £1 BP spent on low-carbon investments it invested £11 in fossil fuels and gave shareholders £9.
So long as the means of producing, distributing, and exchanging the goods and services we all need, are left in private hands, then the profits of a few will always come before the needs of the working class and the environment.
